Durga Puja festivities turned tragic on Saturday, October 17, when a disaster struck the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in North Kolkata’s Burrabazar area. On Maha Saptami, heavy rain, an enormous crowd, inadequate police deployment, restricted entry and exit points, and an announcement warning that the pandal might collapse reportedly triggered a deadly stampede. By the time the situation came under control, 19 people from West Bengal and Bihar had died and 35 were injured, some critically.
Crowd surges are not unusual at Kolkata’s Durga Puja celebrations. A stampede at Deshapriya Park in 2015 injured around 11 people, while a similar incident at Sreebhumi Sporting Club in 2021 left three people seriously injured. However, a tragedy of the scale witnessed at Chorbagan is exceptionally uncommon.
The response that followed was familiar: the pandal was closed, compensation and government jobs were promised to victims’ families, and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced investigations and high-level committees. Puja organisers were arrested, while the BJP and opposition parties exchanged accusations.
As investigations begin, several questions have emerged about the circumstances that led to the disaster and whether better planning and decisions could have prevented it. Five major questions now need answers.
1. WHERE WAS KOLKATA POLICE ON OCTOBER 17?
Kolkata’s largest Durga Puja pandals regularly attract huge crowds, yet a deadly stampede like the one on October 17 remains rare.
The Kolkata Police and city administration have often received praise for managing crowds during the festival. In a 2023 judgment in the Manab Jati Kalyan Foundation versus the State of West Bengal case, Calcutta High Court Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya observed that the police and administration had been commended by various quarters for maintaining law and order during Puja. He noted that they regularly implemented checks and measures to regulate traffic and prevent overcrowding.
The situation at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin pandal, however, appeared very different. Local residents and eyewitnesses alleged that police deployment was inadequate, with only a few officers stationed around the VIP entrances while crowds gathered elsewhere.
Crowd management was reportedly left largely to civic volunteers, private security guards and home guards, whose numbers and training may have been insufficient to control such a large gathering.
A senior police officer told PTI that circumstantial evidence and eyewitness accounts indicated that poor crowd management contributed to the stampede and that too few personnel had been deployed.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Sunday that the role of temporary home guards stationed at the pandal would also be examined as part of the investigation.
However, a broader question remains: why was a major Durga Puja venue known to attract large crowds not provided with enough police personnel experienced in crowd management?
The contrast is particularly striking because, on the same day, a sizeable contingent of Kolkata Police and central forces reportedly accompanied an earthmover to remove bookstalls set up by the CPI(M) near the 8B bus stand in Jadavpur, according to The Telegraph. This has raised questions about why comparable resources could not be deployed to protect visitors at an overcrowded pandal.
2. WHO MADE THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT SPARKED THE STAMPEDE?
Conditions at the Chorbagan pandal were already precarious. A massive crowd was moving slowly through the venue when heavy rain began, while witnesses alleged that there were too few personnel to manage the flow of visitors.
The situation reportedly deteriorated after an announcement was broadcast over the public address system: “The condition of the pandal is very bad. It will collapse. Please leave.”
The warning appears to have triggered panic, prompting visitors to rush towards the narrow entry and exit gates. The resulting crush killed 19 people and injured several others.
Chief Minister Adhikari said preliminary information from the assistant commissioner of police at the scene indicated that an announcement made by a private security agency, combined with whistles being blown, had triggered the incident.
A senior police officer told PTI that investigators had obtained video footage of the announcement. They were attempting to identify the person who made it and determine why the warning was issued.
Investigators must establish who made the announcement, who authorised it and whether there was any genuine danger that the pandal would collapse. These questions are central to understanding how the crowd became uncontrollable.
3. WHERE WERE THE EMERGENCY VEHICLES AND THEIR CREWS?
Large Durga Puja pandals attract enormous crowds, making emergency preparedness essential. Fire engines, ambulances and trained personnel capable of providing first aid and conducting rescue operations can help limit casualties and evacuate injured visitors. Major festival venues generally require such arrangements to be in place beforehand.
At the Chorbagan pandal on October 17, however, the emergency response was reportedly inadequate. With insufficient trained rescue personnel available, local residents took matters into their own hands, dismantling sections of the pandal to reach people trapped in the crowd.
Witnesses also reported that trained paramedics were not available at the site and that ambulances were lacking. Residents transported the injured to Medical College Kolkata using whatever vehicles they could find, including taxis and app-based cabs.
Difficulties reportedly continued at the hospital. Despite being one of West Bengal’s leading tertiary-care institutions, Medical College Kolkata’s emergency department was said to have only a limited number of interns and junior doctors on duty.
The Telegraph reported that junior doctors later alleged that the hospital lacked a dedicated trauma-care centre, essential medicines in the emergency ward and adequate neurosurgical facilities to treat critically injured patients.
This raises questions about why a major festival venue expected to draw thousands of visitors did not have sufficient emergency services and trained rescue teams ready to respond.
4. HOW DID THE CHORBAGAN PANDAL RECEIVE FIRE CLEARANCE?
Several features of the Chorbagan pandal have raised questions about the fire-safety clearance it received. Reports indicated that the structure had a single narrow exit for a large crowd and dimly lit interiors. The surrounding Burrabazar neighbourhood is itself characterised by a network of narrow lanes.
Visitors and residents described having to pass through a dark, enclosed corridor made of heavy iron rods and tightly woven mesh, which some compared to a cage.
Although the design may have been intended to create a particular atmosphere, several visitors later said they felt trapped and claustrophobic. At a venue expected to accommodate thousands, such concerns raise questions about whether the layout adequately addressed crowd movement and emergency evacuation.
The West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Department had issued a circular the previous month asking Durga Puja organisers to ensure that their pandals had appropriate entry and exit routes.
This has prompted questions about how a structure with a reportedly narrow exit and confined passageways, located in an area with similarly restricted roads, was permitted to operate.
Following the October 17 stampede, officials intensified safety inspections at heavily visited pandals across Kolkata. A high-level government review team inspected venues and issued compliance notices to prominent organising committees, The Indian Express reported.
PTI also reported that the West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Department issued notices to three prominent Durga Puja committees in south Kolkata over alleged shortcomings in fire-safety arrangements.
The incident has therefore raised another question: why were these inspections and safety checks not conducted thoroughly before the tragedy occurred, rather than being intensified afterwards?
5. DID THE CHORBAGAN DURGA PUJA ORGANISERS PLAY A ROLE IN THE STAMPEDE?
West Bengal’s political leadership changed after the BJP won the Assembly elections, with the results announced on May 4. The political transition also affected the Chorbagan Durga Puja organising committee.
In July, Jayanta Banerjee, who had led the committee for nearly four decades, reportedly stepped down along with seven other members.
They were replaced by a new team headed by Jorasanko BJP MLA Vijay Ojha as chairperson and Raj Kumar Sewda as secretary. Media reports also identified Debdeep Adhikari, the chief minister’s nephew, as the committee’s chief patron.
In July, however, state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya had advised party leaders against using their political influence to take control of Puja committees outside their own constituencies.
Whether the newly formed committee overlooked essential safety measures at Chorbagan remains a matter for investigators to establish.
Seven people have been arrested in connection with the stampede, including Sewda, committee vice-president Santanu Dubey, and individuals responsible for crowd management and private security.
Police sources told The Indian Express that the organisers had not adequately assessed the security situation or requested additional personnel from Kolkata Police. The sources said both the organisers and the police had failed to review the situation properly.
Before the first Durga Puja under the BJP government, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had promised celebrations on an unprecedented scale. The Chorbagan disaster instead cast a shadow over the festivities.
Answering these five questions is essential to preventing similar tragedies. A detailed investigation cannot reverse the loss of life or erase the suffering of victims’ families, but establishing responsibility and taking corrective measures could help ensure that such an incident does not happen again.
